THE WHITE CHAMELEON OF BOUDEWIJN DE GROOT

The occasional band Vreemde Kostgangers released two albums in 2017. From February 2018, Henny Vrienten (Doe Maar), George Kooijmans (Golden Earring) and Boudewijn de Groot will be back on stage together. Boudewijn de Groot will undoubtedly appear with a snow-white dreadnought that was specially built for him by the new Dutch brand Homestead. This company from Heemstede has guitars built in Indonesia according to high quality standards, whereby the buyer can indicate certain preferences for the decorations. Guitarist asked Boudewijn de Groot about the story behind his white guitar.

We heard that there was someone who wanted to start a new guitar line in the Netherlands and wanted to offer us as Vreemde Kostgangers the first copies, without any obligation. That was a very generous offer because they are fantastic guitars. Henny got a baritone and George and I got a regular guitar. I had gotten the first copy that was ever made, the 001, and it sounded great. But they themselves weren’t that happy with it. They wanted the guitar back and to give me another one. They asked what kind of guitar I would like and then I immediately said: ‘A white one, completely white.’ “Then it went quiet for a while, because I wanted everything white, including the neck, the fretboard, everything. They started investigating and it turned out that this was indeed possible, but it was quite a challenge. Additional layers of lacquer had to be applied to the fretboard time and again.

The builder spent a long time on it. Completely white also seemed nice to me because I had never seen it before. We have already called the guitar ‘the chameleon’, because every time the light in the hall changes it takes on a different colour.’ Boudewijn de Groot is modest about his role as guitarist with De Vreemde Kostgangers. In the group his role is more that of singer and especially lyricist. He has played all kinds of guitars in his career and has not developed a preference for a particular brand. “I once produced an album for Don Rosenbaum and he had a 12-string Eko. I have never heard such a beautiful guitar. It all has to do with just the right piece of wood. And no piece of wood is the same.” Boudewijn is going to perform with his new guitar, but he is still unsure whether he will use it all the time. “I am incredibly careful with it!” The sound of the white dreadnought is, if possible, even more beautiful than that of his previous Homestead guitar. (Hein van Dongen)
www.homestead-guitars.com